Whale Watching in Maui with the Pacific Whale Foundation

What it's like, best place toget tickets, tips and more!

Whale watching in Maui with the Pacific Whale Foundation is a super way to spend a few hours at sea! We relax and enjoy the breeze in our hair as we scan the horizon for signs of the passing whales.

At last, a shout of "Kohola!" rings through the air when a whale is spotted.

A local woman sitting in front of us explains that "Kohola" is the
Hawaiian word for "whale." She begins a rhythmic chant of "Ko ho la! Ko
ho la! Ko ho la!" The boat turns towards the distant whale, then slows
to a halt as we get as close as the law allows.

Everyone
is holding their breath, waiting to see if the whale will honour us
with a close encounter. We gasp with delight as the whale flips in the
air, putting on a glorious show! THIS, is what we've been waiting for!

Out to sea along the the Honoapiilani Highway, we see a whale shoot spray in the air, we see a
tail slap too!

My kids are
in awe, and so are we - to see these incredible creatures out in the
wild like this is out of this world! This was early December, at the
very start of whale season, so we hadn't been expecting much - how
wonderful to come across these energetic creatures!

One of
the cool things about whale watching in Maui with the Pacific Whale
Foundation is that their vessels are all equipped with underwater
hydrophones which allowed us to listen to the whale songs. There are
also bona fide marine naturalists on board who shared loads of
interesting info about the whales and their behavior.

Later, as
the yacht headed back to Maalaea Harbour, our boys were delighted when all the keiki (kids) were invited up to the front to learn a bit about the whales, plus, given a free whalewatch guide and a
cool poster.

We had booked ourselves seats on their 65 foot
yacht, the Ocean Odyssey. It departed from Maalaea Harbour which was a
nice short drive from where we were staying in nearby Kihei.

The prices
were great, plus, our 2 boys were under age 6, so their tickets were free.

If you're staying on the west side of the island (ex. Lahaina, Kaanapali
or Kapalua), you can also head out for some whale watching in Maui via
Lahaina Harbour - some of the Pacific Whale Foundation yachts can be
found there too!

If You Go... Read These Tips!

If you're prone to
seasickness, be sure to sit at the front of the boat where you can keep
your eyes on the horizon. Not only is the stadium-style seating here
great for spotting whales, but the clear views of the horizon can help
to keep seasickness at bay.

The Pacific Whale Foundation
vessels all come equipped with washrooms. There are also snacks and
beverages available for purchase on board.

Most of the whale
watches are about 2 hours long - that'll leave you exposed to the sun
for quite a while, so be sure to slap on some sunscreen!

Especially
if you go whale watching in Maui earlier in the season like we did
(when there are fewer whales around) I recommend you choose a whale
watch tour that offers guaranteed whale sightings. That way, if you
have bad luck and don't see a whale, you can book another tour later on
for free. On that note, book your whale watch early in your trip so if
you need to book another, you'll still have time to fit it in! (At the
time of our trip, the PWF did guarantee whale sightings - if you didn't
see at least one whale, you'd get another trip totally free!)

Tickets

As
usual, we booked our tickets through Barefoot Tours. I like the fact
that they are a local company that's been in business practically
forever, plus, the staff there has always been so nice any time I've had
to contact them with questions! (Their low price guarantee isn't half
bad either - it allows me to book everything in one place AND if I find a
lower price elsewhere, they'll match it! See their website to find out
how it works!)